September 11, 2012 3:46 pm

The name is a nod to the moniker that longtime South Tacomans still use for that particular neighborhood. The building where Edison City Diner operates has a rich history in housing restaurants – most recently as a Philly cheesesteak restaurant and a string of diners, cafes and confectioneries before that.

If regulars and building owners are correct, the stools at the luncheon counter are relics from the 1940s. Those chrome-plated stools are what drew Edison City Diner owner Leian Susee to the building – she cleaned up the decor a bit and kept the long luncheon counter with seating for more than a dozen. A half dozen booths line one wall, a back room seats another 20-25.

Susee described her restaurant as a ’40s-era luncheonette with a menu of diner classics, including corned beef and hash, biscuits and gravy and daily blue-plate specials. Her children are the only workers – daughter Mikaela Walker and son Joshua Susee both work at the diner alongside mom, who is the chef.

The diner was born out of a cobbler and pie company Susee started after her job in sales became another casualty of a tough economy. She originally set out to find a commercial kitchen for her pie company, but wound up a restaurant owner.

Pies and cobblers are menu staples, of course. This week, Susee debuted lemon pie and blackberry cobbler. She lets the season and her mood dictate her dessert and weekly blue-plate and other specials – chicken-fried steak one week or a navy bean soup the next. She described her cooking as homemade, learning many recipes from her parents, who owned or managed restaurants for decades (as did her grandparents). The corned beef hash recipe was handed down from her father, the buttermilk biscuit recipe came from her mother.

The diner opened with a small menu but Susee plans to add more, including soups, as soon as the weather cools a bit. The diner is open for breakfast and lunch Mondays through Saturdays.